By Ayobami Ife, Abeokuta
Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library(OOPL) has declared that the brutal invasion of the facility on August 10 by 50 armed operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was a calculated attack on its promoter, former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
It also declared that the unannounced intrusion by the anti – graft agency operatives endangered innocent lives and disrupted lawful business activities, stressing that 100 guests – tourists, were injured during the predawn raid.
Many of the victims, it adde, were assault still in the hospital recuperating.
The Managing Director of OOPL, Vitalis Ortese, who disclosed this yesterday while addressing newsmen at the boardroom of OOPL, said the Management was determined to pursue every legal avenue to ensure that such rights violation never happens again.
Ortese even held the EFCC and Nigeria Police Force jointly and severally liable for the deliberate embarrassing and utterly malicious damage occasioned by their rude invasion.
He revealed that the OOPL lawyers had been given the mandate to proceed to court for redress if within 7 days the EFCC failed to pay a cumulative N3.5billion compensation, tender unreserved apology, publish same in all national dailies and social media for the malicious harm done to Obasanjo personality, the OOPL, its associates and victims of the invasion.
Ortese said, “We have engaged legal counsel, security experts, and civil society partners to demand accountability, enforce institutional respect, and protect the rights of our patrons and staff.
We have instructed our lawyers to take up this matter in no uncertain terms that:
Both the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Nigeria Police Force (NPF) are jointly and severally liable for the deliberate embarrassing and utterly malicious damage occasioned by their invasion of the 9th and 10th August, 2025 as aforestated.
“We are fully persuaded that the acts are not only aggravated, unconstitutional, oppressive, capricious and arbitrary, the actions are also clearly actuated by malice against the institution of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library and also of its Chief Promoter HE Chief Olusegun Obasanjo GCFR who was Head of State (1976-1979) and President of Nigeria (1999-2007).
“The foregoing actions are clearly calculated not only to oppress and brutalise as well as violate in gross terms, the fundamental and other rights of the more than one hundred (100) persons as aforestated; but also calculated to wreak maximum damage on the legitimate, commercial business and financial interests of our Client as well as damage the standing of our Client and its Chief Promoter in the eyes of right thinking members of the public both in Nigeria and internationally.
“We therefore DEMAND a comprehensive investigation be undertaken by all relevant Security Agencies with their reports openly published, especially regarding the brutalization of our patrons being citizens who had apparently done nothing wrong nor apparently infracted any law other than engaging in a party as allowed under the law.
“In particular, it is a notorious fact of public knowledge that HE Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and his family as well as several of his close friends and associates, live and/or reside at the OOPL premises where the sordid events as described above, unfortunately occurred.
“That relevant authorities of the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, particularly the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on the one hand, and the Inspector General of the Nigeria Police Force on the other, both issue separate public apologies to be widely published in all major media platforms including television, the print as well as social outfits inclusive of X (formerly knownas Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, Channels, AIT, NTA, TVC, Arise as well major newspaper and news magazines including Premium Times and Sahara Reporters.
“That immediate restitution for the damage caused, be made to those persons who were arrested and whose vehicle were carted away by the invasion force of the Police and EFCC, as well as for bodily injuries suffered by these persons numbering at least one hundred (100); be paid in the amount of at least One Billion Naira (N1Billion). We also demand that a further Two Billion and Five Hundred Million Naira (N 2.5 Billion) be paid in token acknowledgment and atonement for the immense damage caused to the reputation, business and our financial reputation as well to the reputation of our Chief Promoter (HE Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR).
“Finally, we have further instructed our lawyers that should these demands not be met in full within the next seven (7) days from today, Wednesday
August 13th 2025, we shall have no alternative but to proceed to seek redress in a competent court of law without further recourse to the Police and the EFCC; and in which case our demands will NOT be limited to the foregoing.”
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